SIMON PAYTON

About Simon

My art is my life. It consumes everything that I do. I have participated to a high level in all kinds of sport. I have run marathons and taken on the 'Coast to coast' three times; I have taught art and have been a coach of many things. Thus far life has been extremely busy.

In life there is always a beginning and an end. It is given. What happens in between is only of importance to each individual; it is their life. What makes up an individual is a long and time-consuming process. Each character is influenced by so many things; parents, situation, peers, town, country, national identity, diet, drugs, sex, starvation, war. Influences come from everywhere around us. Some good, some bad. What society endeavours to achieve is a natural balance which is to the good of a mass of population.

Influences are quite different in different parts of the world. Life in a dictatorship can be so different than that of a democracy. Corruption can taint a population; in the worst possible way. Taking basic decisions away from people about how they live can be equally as devastating. Handouts create dependency on the giver.

Taking responsibility for ourselves is so important. To be able to love, To have something to do, To have a dream. To have these things leads to individual happiness and so to collective happiness. To share these things breeds an innate harmony. To not have these things? It creates a need and anxiety within society. Forget about wealth in a monetary sense. It is but a by-product of harmonious endeavour. A journey can be a revelation. It has been an interesting journey. In life there is always a beginning and an end. It is given.